


Flashes of light are glimmering like gold (feel the world igniting deep inside these bones)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [50]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Gen, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27437272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: They reach the haven where Nyx Ulric had slain a Cerberus daemon with approximately three hours to go until sundown, something that makes the more experienced members of their group more than a little anxious.
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [50]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 14
Kudos: 69





	Flashes of light are glimmering like gold (feel the world igniting deep inside these bones)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, hey look, I’m still alive! ;D Sorry I’ve been absent for a bit. I hope you guys are all doing well and taking care of yourselves. And that everyone had a Happy Halloween. ;D
> 
> Anyway, in this drabble we return to the Royal Road-trip portion of this AU! This drabble will feature our first haven “recharging”! 
> 
> And it won’t happen in this drabble, but the next stop on the road-trip after Haven #1 will be Mors’ Tomb, which is conveniently nearby Because I Say So. (That upcoming bit of the story also involves me taking even more creative liberties: specifically, I basically invent the royal arm that was originally Mors’, because, hey, it never came up in canon but we know it exists so I might as well, right? ;D But more on that another time.)
> 
> (Also, guys!!! This is Drabble #50, can you believe it? I honestly never expected this series to grow like this, but I’m so thrilled with the amazing feedback I’ve gotten ever since the start. You’re all awesome! <3)

**Flashes of light are glimmering like gold (feel the world igniting deep inside these bones)**

* * *

They reach the haven where Nyx Ulric had slain a Cerberus daemon with approximately three hours to go until sundown, something that makes the more experienced members of their group more than a little anxious.

"You worry too much, Specs," Noctis says when Ignis voices his opinion that they might want to hold off on messing with the haven until tomorrow morning. "We came all this way to fix the haven, right? So let's hurry up and fix it."

"Technically," Gladio puts in, "we came all this way so _Lady Lunafreya_ can fix the haven, so why don't we ask _her_ opinion?"

Noctis makes a face at him, a luminescent blush creeping across his pale cheeks as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. "…Yeah, I guess you've got a point," he concedes, before he turns towards the Oracle in question, who's just stepping out of the Regalia. "Luna, Iggy and Gladio are worried that recharging the haven might take a while, that we might be in danger of a daemon attack if we can't get the protective magic up and running before nightfall. Do you want to double-back to someplace safer and come back in the morning, or are you okay to try right now?"

Luna gives him a beatific smile, warm and reassuring. "I have faith that you and the others will serve as sufficient protection until I can get the haven operational once more," she tells him. "But I will, of course," she adds, looking briefly self-conscious, "do my best to restore the haven's magic as quickly as possible, so that none of us are in more danger than necessary. My skills as Oracle may be largely untried when it comes to this particular duty, but I swear that I shall not you down."

"It's not your skills we're doubting, Lady Lunafreya," Ignis says quickly, straightening his glasses. "It's simply that we are unsure of what to expect from this endeavor, and so an overabundance of caution seems prudent."

"What Specs is saying," Noctis puts in, elbowing his advisor lightly in the ribs, "is that he's a chronic worry-wart but you're good to get started on the haven whenever you're ready."

Ignis wrinkles his nose at his Prince and gives a little huff of embarrassed displeasure, but doesn't argue the point.

"Thank you," Lunafreya says, inclining her head in a grateful nod. "Your support is very much appreciated." She turns towards the haven with a determined expression, her mystic trident manifesting in her hands as she begins striding towards the fading protective runes. "I will let you know if I need any assistance," she calls over her shoulder, leaving the rest of them to sort themselves out in the meantime.

"I'll do a perimeter sweep," Gladiolus says at once, sword held loosely in his hand as he picks a direction and strikes out, eyes constantly scanning for potential threats.

"With your permission, Noct, I'll begin plotting a course towards Mors's tomb, so that you might obtain his royal arm for your Armiger," Ignis remarks, holding up a folded map of the region to illustrate his point. "Since it's the tomb closest to our present location, it seems only logical that it be the first one we visit." A pause. "Assuming you have no objections, of course," he tacks on.

Noctis shifts from foot to foot, vaguely uneasy with the thought of traipsing through his grandfather's tomb but unable to give voice to those feelings. "…Nah," he says at last. "Go ahead and figure out the best route; we'll head there once Luna's done with the haven."

Ignis gives him that searching look he's so good at, gaze narrowed and thoughtful as he peers at Noctis intently. "You're sure?"

Noctis shrugs. "More or less," he replies, very deliberately not saying how he's leaning more towards 'less' than 'more' because he doesn't want to burden Ignis with his own misgivings. Especially because he _knows_ it doesn't many any sense for him to be feeling so nervous about visiting his grandfather's tomb to collect the royal arm that's hidden within; he'd never even met the man, after all, he shouldn't _care_.

Ignis, meanwhile, just gives a low hum of acknowledgment, something knowing in his gaze before he moves away to unfold the map on the hood of the car, spreading it out as he peers at all the nearby travel routes.

Noctis heaves a sigh and turns around, looking to see where Prompto got off to.

He finds his friend a short distance away, snapping pictures with the camera that he treasures so much. He watches as Prompto takes a few shots of Luna, then swivels around to get some panoramic shots of the surrounding landscape, and then finally as he goes full circle and catches sight of Noctis. Prompto gives a bright grin when he seems him, and quickly snaps two more shots in quick succession.

"You got my good side, I hope," Noctis says jokingly, wandering closer so he can glance over Prompto's shoulder as he reviews his pictures.

"Dude, you don't _have_ a _bad_ side," Prompto replies, rolling his eyes with a smirk.

Noctis huffs out a small laugh because that is blatantly a lie and they both know it; he's lost track of how many times he's looked like a complete and total loser in some Prompto's pictures, to the extent that it would be excruciatingly embarrassing if he hadn't seen all of his friends in equally dorky snapshots, too. "That's a nice shot of those mountains," he says instead, though, leaning against Prompto's side a little more so he can tap at the buttons of the camera to back up the slide-show to the image in question.

"You think so?" Prompto asks, chewing on his lower lip. "I mean, it's a bit overexposed, I think, but I guess it turned out okay."

Noctis looks again at the picture, which is honestly just shy of professional quality, then glances over at Prompto. "Dude, this is way better than just _okay_." He reaches out to muss his friend's hair and gets an indignant squawk in response.

"Noct, stop it," Prompto says, laughing o hard that his cheeks are flushed.

Noctis, being a mature young man who will someday become king of Lucis, sticks out his tongue. "Make me," he challenges.

Gladio finds them wrestling on the ground some fifteen minutes later as he circles back around after his perimeter check, and rolls his eyes at their antics. "I don't suppose either of you geniuses have thought to check up on the princess at all?" he asks dryly. "You know, since looking after her is our whole reason for being here in the first place."

Noctis and Prompto scramble to their feet immediately, but once they're standing all Noctis does is look over at the haven to verify that Luna really is fine, before turning to Gladio with a shrug. "Gladdy, relax," he tells his future Shield. "I know she doesn't look like it, but Luna is…what's the phrase I'm looking for? Oh, yeah, 'totally a badass'." He grins when Prompto makes a choking sound behind him, even as Gladio arches an eyebrow in an expression of barely-polite disbelief. "I'm serious," Noctis insists. "That trident she's lugging around isn't just a prop for show, you know, it's a tried and true weapon. She's inexperienced," he finishes, "but she's not helpless."

"She's also listening to every word you're saying about her," Luna herself calls out, her voice just shy of singsong as she glances over at them with an expression of indulgent amusement. "Honestly, boys," she says teasingly, "don't you have anything better to do than gossip like old midwives?"

"Not really," Noctis says honestly, flashing her a grin in way that makes him feel light and carefree, like they've reverted back to childhood, playing tag in the Citadel while Sylva meets with Regis. He allows himself to bask in that fleeting feeling for a moment, then lets it fade away as he strides forward towards the haven that Luna is kneeling beside. "You making any progress?"

"Some," Luna confirms, reaching out a hand and pressing it against one of the rune carvings; as she focuses on it, it shines with white light so brightly that it's almost blinding. The light keeps shining for a moment, then it's as if the magic that Luna's pouring out is absorbed into the stone of the haven, sucked into that rune until the white light fades and leaves behind a steady blue glow. "I've managed to recharge three of the primary protective runes for this haven," she offers up in explanation a moment later as she straightens up and moves on to the next dull rune. "Once they're all filled back up with magic, the haven should begin functioning normally again."

"Cool," Noctis says, then wants to kick himself because it's more than cool, it's _incredible_ , and he's an idiot for not singing Luna's praises for being able to accomplish such a thing.

Luna, at least, seems to understand what he _meant_ to say, because she looks up from filling up another rune with magical energy and gives him a grateful smile. "Thank you," she says, and then turns her attention back to her work.

With that, Noctis leaves her to it, retreating back a few steps to give her space to wield her magic without any distractions.

Ultimately, Luna manages to finish restoring the haven just before the sun dips below the horizon, the glow of sunset casting everything in reds and oranges as they set up their tents and camping gear for the night.

("Very nicely done, my lady," Ignis says quietly later that night, as they're seated around the campfire and partaking of what is quite possibly the most delicious stir-fry any of them have ever eaten.

"Thank you, Ignis," Luna says with a smile, then digs into her meal with a level of enthusiasm that seems to deeply flatter Noctis's advisor, the blush gracing Ignis's cheeks so vibrant in the firelight that Gladio can't help but tease him for it.

Noctis watches it all with a fond smile, and nudges Prompto in the side and mimes clicking a camera so that they can capture this moment and save it forever.)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed that!. I’m still trying to get a feel for Luna’s character because all I have for reference is her Kingsglaive portrayal and the, like, five minutes we get of her in the main game. I’m trying to write her by combining her sense of duty (best seen in Kingsglaive, where she’s mostly very serious and very focused on her obligations, while also being a total badass who jumps out of speeding shuttles and taunts/tricks Luche into putting on the Ring of the Lucii) with how happy she must be to finally be able to actually go places and fulfill her duties as Oracle without being a prisoner of the Empire. Also I head-canon that Lunafreya is, in general, just good at getting along with people, because she’s both kind and forthright (unlike Noctis who is perhaps the most socially awkward Final Fantasy protagonist in the history of ever lol. I mean, I love him to death, but he is so bad at expressing himself sometimes, it’s hilarious).
> 
> Anyway, the next drabble (#51) is going to be some outside perspective in the form of some Glaive trainees, so that should be fun. ;P


End file.
